La Source volumising seaweed shampoo and conditioner by Crabtree and Evelyn is absolutely unreal. That is why I have to write this post. I haven’t been using anything else since I discovered it. The shampoo uses an array of natural ingredients, including spirulina extract, algae extract, aloe vera, avocado oil, safflower seed oil and oat extract. It’s sodium-lauryl sulfate-free.

One of my all-time favourite university recipes: home-made Mexican quesadillas. I got introduced to these by none other than my amazing (but very Irish) grandmother. They’re so simple, and take about ten-fifteen minutes to make and taste yum.

In this pic, I’ve made them with cheddar, but I usually use mozzarella: it tastes nicer and melts faster. I’ve also put in onions, tomatoes and parsley.
Other ingredients that work well are bay leaves (only two or three though!) or peppers if you have no tomatoes.

People make quesadillas in different ways, but I use the frying pan. I also use corn tortillas: that may be just a personal preference, but I think they’ve a certain flavour about them that makes them taste better than regular flour tortillas. I put the ring on a moderate heat, put the cheese on the tortilla and WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK because those things burn in the space of 2 seconds. Then I empty in the rest of the ingredients. When the cheese is beginning to melt, pop the second tortilla on top. Press on it so that the cheese sticks to it and melds the whole thing together. Then flip the entire thing…slowly! Toast for a while on the other side but again be warned…the amount of times that I have had the whole kitchen in smoke because I’ve burned these is not worth counting.

This video is fascinating…but also scary. 2,000 calories is your daily food intake if you’re a woman…2500 if you’re a man. Found this video on Treehugger.com, inspired by a post from Wisegeek. Carrot anyone?

This dish, though it doesn’t look quite as appetising as some of the others I’ve posted, is an absolute staple for me. Plus it is mega handy if you’ve been indulging lately and want to eat something that’s light but filling: it’s relatively low in calories but it’s packed full of energy. I make a good load of it at the weekend and bring it to college for my lunch and it fills you for the day.

It’s a really simple recipe too (thank god). I stir fry the onions in soy sauce and sometimes include peppers (though I haven’t here). Whip in some curry powder and tofu and parsley or spring onion/leek and put it with rice. For the best taste and the most energy, I do brown rice with vegetable stock. And that’s it: make loads of it and it’ll do about three days’ worth of dinner. With relatively little fuss. Enjoy!

This pizza is straight up an example of why I should have learned how to cook, and properly, a long time ago. On a recent trip to my friend’s house, she put us all to shame by serving up these pizza bases and loads of different toppings and we helped ourselves.

Home-made Veggie Pizza : Copyright Catherine Collins

It was a brilliant idea: as a vegetarian eating in a friends’ house can sometimes be a complete disaster (Though mine are usually very accommodating) and this was great: everybody could tuck in to whatever they liked.

They looked absolutely gorgeous too, and believe me they tasted amazing. Because of the size of them, my friend popped them onto baking sheets and could cook enough for 8 people all at the same time. Voilà.

Definitely one that we will be attempting again I think !

The toppings shown here are mozzarella, sweetcorn, green and red peppers, red onion and some rocket on top. Other toppings that Ró included were pepperoni and chicken for the meat eaters (not shown here).

The rectangular shape of the pizzas meant that she could fit loads into the oven at once, so we were all eating at the same time. Savage idea!

This is one of those dishes that I point to when people ask me, “Oh you’re a vegetarian? What do you eat?” Or the less polite “Must be all salads, hohoho (cue a “friendly” pat on the shoulder or equivalent)“ Or “Rabbit food!” No way is this rabbit food. These tostadas (adapted from Good Food BBC’s black bean tostada recipe) are delicious. Not being a fan of black beans however, I substitute kidney beans (they’re easier to get) and my topping of preference is chopped tomatoes with mozzarella and yellow peppers.